Blog Post #4 - The Liberator EOTO Response

After listening to the presentation about The Liberator, I learned a few things: 

The Liberator was created by a man named William Lloyd Garrison. He was born in December of 1805 and lived in both Newburyport, Massachusetts and New York City. During this time, he was a famous journalist and a passionate abolitionist who deeply cared about equal rights for all. 

One of his big passions was trying to help end slavery and make a change to the injustices of inequality. The Liberator was a newspaper that had many articles that fought for freedom of slaves as well as general equality among people. Most of his subscribers for The Liberator were free African Americans and fellow abolitionists who wanted to also fight. Many of these people believed in his cause to end slavery and therefore spread the paper more.

The main focus of Garrison's papers was to form a platform for other abolitionists to speak on equality, slavery, and politics. Each issue also had a special illustration. The first published article from the Liberator was on January 1, 1831 and the paper survived due to the amount of black subscribers to it.

All of its editing and publishing was done in Boston and so The Liberator encouraged black voters in Boston to vote. This helped many African Americans to gain trust in white abolitionists and also encouraged them to further their education in order to read the paper. 

All in all, the Liberator made an impact in the way that many different people viewed others and it helped shape the way inequality and slavery was handled in the US.

Blog Post #3 - Cartoons and The AAEC

For centuries now, cartoons have been used to relay information covering an extensive amount of topics dating all the way back to 16th century Germany during the Reformation.

The first person in America to make a political cartoon was Benjamin Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. His first piece is still widely recognizable and called "Join or Die." It shows a coiled snake that is separated into eight different pieces each labeled with one of the American Colonies.

During the Civil war era political cartoons gained widespread attention. It was during this time that iconic staples like Uncle Sam, the democratic donkey, and the republican elephant were created by Thomas Nast. 

There are many different kinds of cartoons. To name a few there are pocket cartoons, comic strip cartoons, and gag cartoons. These kinds of cartoons can cover all different genres of information. Any of these could educate people on politics, global threats, and even day to day life. 

Throughout history, cartoons have been used to express public opinion and convey messages with five key elements; irony, symbolism, analogy, exaggeration, and labeling. Often cartoons are made with overemphasized characteristics and hint towards a bigger picture, which is what usually engages readers. Cartoons provide such valuable information that even in an age of today where there are animations and photographs they still hold their own place in a newspaper.

Cartoons are considered a visual medium and they help readers understand complex ideas. Whether that be political, social, or economic. So much so, that even kids gained an interest and are able to learn ideas like this at a young age.

The American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, AAEC, was formed in 1957 by a man named John Stampone and a small group of newspaper cartoonists. It was created in order to stimulate and promote interest in the editorial cartoon page and bring together political cartoonists. Since it was formed only 65 years ago, there is not a whole lot of history pertaining to the AAEC. However, this has not stopped them from making an immense impact. 

Over time the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists have been involved with many cases regarding freedom of the press by filing friend-of-the-court briefs. An example of one is the Supreme Court case in 1988, Hustler Magazine v. Falwell. In this case, the Hustler Magazine released a parody of an actual ad campaign which targeted political leader Falwell who sued the magazine for emotional distress and invasion of privacy.  The AAEC fought for the Hustler magazine because it prides itself on defending the freedom of speech and press as it is essential to the backbone of the United States.

Whether you read the newspaper or not, cartoons will always be a place for any type of reader to learn something, and we are lucky to have the AAEC fighting for them.

Blog Post #2 - Why Journalism?

Almost every time I am asked the question, "What is your major" and I respond with, "Journalism" I am met with a reaction of worry and surprise. Even my own grandparents winced when I first told them what I was going to college for. They all think I am going to become some corrupted, biased, piece of garbage that feeds off of incorrect information and the blood of enemies. Solely because I am becoming a journalist. While I don't plan on becoming those things, I totally get why they would think that.

Journalism as a whole has become something that a lot of people laugh at. They see the biased, one-sided reporting of CNN and Fox and believe that all journalists are like this. I won't lie, I doubt my ability to change the world from time to time, and changing the way the news business is heading also sometimes falls under that umbrella of doubt. I've shadowed and talked with multiple reporters and journalists who say things like, "The business is dying" or even "Don't go into this business" due to the nature of the business itself. Every reporter wants to change the world with their words, but I think many of them learn it isn't that easy once they actually get the job.

So now that leads to me. I have been telling stories since my freshman year of high school. I was a reporter for my school's Emmy award-winning weekly TV show called The Buzz. I even had my own series on it called Reece's Road Trips, where I traveled across the Carolinas telling the wackiest, most interesting, and emotional stories I could find. This series made me love the art of storytelling, and I called it journalism because that's what journalism is supposed to be. I then came to college and I began to learn about what types of things other people called journalism. 

The emphasis on the work that was done was no-longer quality, but rather quantity. The pieces that my peers produced were based on getting the assignment done, rather than making it such a great segment or story that it could win awards. I understand that in the real world there are strict deadlines that sometimes don't allow for creative juices, but that is no excuse for cutting corners.

I want to be a journalist to fix what needs to be fixed in this business. Yes, everyone wants to "tell the stories that need to be told," but the majority of people that get into the business find that that mindset is too hard and expensive. That goes for quality as well. The amount of zoom call interviews I see on the news now is ridiculous. And I know there are people who are going to read this and say, "Actually it's because of Covid-19," but we all know well enough that they could get those interviews in person. They just don't want to spend the time or money.

So in conclusion, I'm fed up with the fact that the crap we see on the tv and in magazines is classified as "real journalism." Therefore, I want to continue to be a journalist so that I might have the chance to make some real change in the business and in turn, the world.

Here is a link to a Ted Talk from 3 years ago, but I think it is still incredibly valuable and relevant today:

Beating Fake News

Blog Post #1 - Five News Sources

    As a broadcast journalist, I have been able to see the importance of news first-hand. Also, I know how important it is to consume information from multiple sources. Therefore, I gain my news from these five sources:

*Links embedded in titles*

The New York Times

    Call me old-fashioned, but I find that the older journalism brands seem to have the most reliable information. The New York Times was founded in 1851 and is one of the most popular news sources due to the fact that the older methods of journalism are still present within the organization today. While I don't go to The Times for my entertainment news, I have found that its political page is both informative and unbiased.

BBC

    With my passion of broadcast television, I have done a lot of personal research into TV news organizations. BBC is one of my favorites due to the way they run their programs. Not only are the segments informative, but they are also engaging. Being creative in storytelling is incredibly important and it is something I strive to meet with every beat I tackle.

PBS NewsHour

    Over the last few years, I have done a lot of work with PBS NewsHour's Student Reporting Labs. Through this work, I have been able to learn a lot about how PBS creates its shows. While I have noticed that there is not as much creativity as BBC's work, I specifically love PBS NewsHour. Not only is Judy Woodruff an amazing journalist and anchor for the show, but the stories almost always end with you feeling good about the world. Take that as you will, but I enjoy feeling good about the world.

NBC

    From the moment I started watching the news with my parents, I watched NBC News. Specifically, NBC Nightly News because that was on when everyone was home from school and work. Now more than ever, I feel that NBC is an incredibly informative and engaging source of news. Lester Holt is one of my favorite journalists of all time, because he is able to pull emotion from even the most boring stories. Therefore, I very much enjoy watching and reading NBC News.

VICE News

    Although it is not the most widely noticed news source, VICE is one of my favorite organizations. This is due to the fact that many of the reporters are young. With young reporters, I find that there is much more creativity and intrigue in the storytelling process. At this age, reporters are very invested in every story they tell, thus, VICE's segments are usually quite in-depth and interesting.